Hatch (The Dragons Of Laton)

by Stevens, James

  A blood-curdling scream erupted from the shadows of the house and Ammon jerked to a stop as Sasha gripped his forearm tightly, her face pale. “No! By the dragons teeth, no!”

  Fulgid slowly backed from the building with his back arched. With each step his claws raked the ground and ripped gouges deep into the paving stones. He growled fiercely through razor sharp fangs, and his eyes glowed white with intense fury. Ammon drew his sword and took one step before Sasha pulled him back.

  “Fool! You cannot fight it with that!” she nodded at his sword.

  Ammon pulled his arm free. “Fight what? What is in there?”

  Fulgid growled even louder as something emerged from the doorway. A gray head as big as a melon emerged from the shadows and moved slowly into the street. A pair of long black mandibles protruded from the sides of its gaping maw and clicked as they opened and closed. Its fat, bulbous body was as big around as the chest of a horse and it rippled as it moved like a gelatinous bag of water. The color of wet slate, it was as long as Ammon was tall, and the reeking scent of rotting meat permeated the air. The legless body slid forward like a giant worm, its mandibles clicking as it stared at Fulgid with unblinking black eyes.

  Gagging at the putrid smell, Ammon pointed his sword at its head. “What is that thing?”

  Sasha looked up at Ammon, fear in her wide eyes. “Kala-Azar!”

  With surprising speed, the slug suddenly lunged forward at Fulgid who quickly leapt to the side, raking the flank of the creature with his claws. Long shallow slices appeared on its bulging rolls, and as Fulgid neared the back of the creature, he sank his teeth into the stubby tail. Like a fat whip, the short tail thrust upward and flung Fulgid tumbling through the air and into the side of a dilapidated building. The wall teetered unsteadily for a brief moment before it crumbled down on top of the dragon, covering him with stones.

  With a shout, Ammon leapt forward with his sword high above his head and brought it down on the creature’s back with all his might. The gray blade bounced back in his hands so hard he barely kept his grip. He stepped back again in disbelief. It was as if he’d struck a thick piece of leather with a stick, the sharp sword hadn’t even left a mark.

  The grotesque head turned towards Ammon, mandibles open wide, and its slug like body rippled as it flowed towards him. Without taking his eyes off the creature, he yelled to Sasha. “How do I kill it?”

  Sasha’s voice was filled with terror. “You can’t kill it with a sword! It will only die with fire!”

  Ammon’s brain raced frantically. Fire? Where would he get fire quickly? He had to do something, Fulgid may be hurt under that pile of rubble and he wasn’t about to let some slimy…thing eat him! The slug advanced towards him slowly, and Ammon backed up until his back was against the wall of a building. The only warning he had was a tiny twitch of the lumpy tail, he faked a move to the left before jumping right and hit the ground on his shoulder before rolling to his feet. Two loud thumps echoed behind him, and as he turned he saw two large holes in the wall, one where he’d been standing and another to the left of where he’d been. The edges of the holes sizzled like boiling oil as they steamed.

  Sasha yelled to him again. “The saliva is like acid! Don’t let it touch you!”

  Ammon moved to the middle of the street and faced the giant slug. A few rocks in the pile from the collapsed wall tumbled away as Fulgid climbed out, his eyes shining like white hot metal. Ammon could feel the fury building inside the dragon as Fulgid deliberately stalked forward. Ammon called to him. “Fulgid! Back away!”

  Fulgid snarled, and the Kala-Azar turned its ugly maw back towards the angry little dragon. Fulgid stood up on his hind legs, head back and mouth open, and the slug shot forward with incredible speed.

  There was a sudden flash and Ammon was knocked onto his back by a tremendous blast. Instinctively he raised his hands to protect his face and felt his palms begin to blister. In seconds it was over and he sat up, blinking against the heat coming up from the street. As his eyes focused, he could see a massive scorch mark that blackened the entire area where the Kala-Azar had been. Paving stones hissed and cracked with loud pops and thin tendrils of smoke drifted up from where weeds once pushed up between them. Fulgid nonchalantly walked up and sat next to him as Sasha hurried to his side.

  Standing over him with hands firmly planted on each hip, she looked down and said, “Now do you believe the danger?”

  Painfully climbing to his feet, Ammon looked around for his sword. The blast had knocked it from his hands and thrown it several paces away. He retrieved it and slid it back into the scabbard then dusted bits of ash from his armor. The pungent smell of burnt hair and sulfur filled his nostrils and stung his eyes.

  “What caused it to explode like that?”

  Sasha cackled. “HA! The Kala-Azar didn’t explode! Your little golden dragon incinerated the filthy vermin! I thought you said you’d never heard of calentar?”

  Ammon rubbed his forehead with blistered fingers. “I haven’t. How could Fulgid have caused that explosion?”

  “Humph!” Sasha hobbled down the street, her walking stick tapping the blackened stones in rhythm to her step. “Come, I have a salve for those burns.”

  His mind reeling, Ammon followed, keeping a wary eye on the vacant doorways. What caused that thing to explode? There was nothing flammable around and certainly nothing that would burn that hot and that quickly! The increasing pain of his burns soon took over his thoughts, and by the time they arrived at Sasha’s home he could think of little else.

  Fidgeting uncomfortably on the rickety stool, Ammon closed his eyes and clenched his teeth while the old woman rubbed a clear, foul smelling paste on the burns. Despite the odor, the salve had an immediate cooling effect, and the discomfort eased considerably. As he relaxed, he opened his eyes and was surprised to see a small hooded figure eyeing him suspiciously from the doorway. Shorter than Ammon and with facial features obscured beneath the hood, he guessed the figure to be a boy barely into his teenage years. The deerskin shirt and breeches hung loosely on a thin frame, and slung from his shoulder was a hunters bow and quiver.

  Mumbling incoherently to herself as she applied the poultice to Ammon’s hands, Sasha suddenly looked over her shoulder at the boy “El, get me the box of bandages.”

  El slipped the bow from his shoulder and propped it against the wall before pulling a brown box from the shelf and handed it to the old woman. Ammon began to wonder how many others were hidden in the city as Sasha wrapped his hands. Suddenly it dawned on him that if the number of jars, pots, and bottles in the room were filled with various medications, then Sasha must have enough to treat a small army. Perhaps Sasha wasn’t as crazy as she appeared. She may have avoided answering their questions to protect the residents still living in the city. If she thought they were invaders, it was reasonable to assume others would too and would remain hidden until they were assured of their own safety.

  Satisfied that every blister was covered, Sasha wiped her hands on the tattered remains of her clothes and stepped back as Fulgid leapt into Ammon’s lap to investigate the wounds. Ammon flexed his hands gingerly. He could still move them but with the bandages and poultice he’d have difficulty handling his sword.

  The old woman pulled down a couple large woven sacks from a shelf and tossed it to the boy. “We’re moving to the palace. I’ll need all the jars from the third shelves, we’ll come back for the rest later.”

  Without a word, the boy started filling the sack with everything off of the shelf. Sasha turned back towards Ammon and lifted his chin between her thumb and forefinger. Speaking over her shoulder she announced.

  “Too bad you didn’t see him before the burns, he’s got a pretty face to be sure.”

  The boy stiffened for a brief second with a jar in his hand before snorting and continued.

  Despite his bandaged hands, Ammon carried two large bags filled with liniments over his shoulders and the boy carried two more. Fulgid walked beside Ammon c
arrying a small jar in his teeth and the old woman walked ahead of them with pockets bulging. When they arrived at the palace, Theo met them in the hallway, and Ammon briefly explained what happened and showed his wounded hands.

  Theo nodded with concern. “Erik will want to hear this entire story, as do I! As soon as you can, meet me in his chambers. I’ll inform him you are coming.”

  Sasha insisted that first she find a room near Ammon’s where she could store her medicines. She looked at three different rooms before choosing one directly across the hallway from Ammon’s. He wasn’t terribly fond of the idea of having her that close to him, but her ointments seemed to be soothing the burns, so he reluctantly agreed. Besides, it would be easier to keep an eye on her if she were nearby.

  Once inside her room, Ammon dropped the bags onto a table and excused himself. “The king wishes to see me.”

  Sasha never looked up as she pulled the jars from the bag. “Yes, yes, go, speak with him, tell him everything mind you! I’ll be there soon to explain the Kala-Azar. El, are you sure you got everything from the third shelf?”

  Ammon rolled his eyes and left with Fulgid trotting beside him. Before entering Erik’s chambers, he checked himself over quickly and dusted off a few bits of ash from his vest. The armor had very likely saved him from burns across his chest as well. Looking down at Fulgid, he marveled at the thought of a fireball that powerful coming from such a tiny dragon! Could Sasha’s claim be true? How big would a fireball from a full-grown dragon be?

  Ammon had barely started to tell what happened when Sasha arrived. He decided it would be best to just describe the events he witnessed and let her fill in the rest. Sasha plucked a crystal shard from her pocket and dropped it on the table. Erik picked it up and eyed it doubtfully.

  Sasha pointed a bony finger at Fulgid who sat quietly at Ammon’s feet. “DoTaria has known for thousands of years to give calentar to dragons to make them breathe fire. How your civilization has managed this long without it is stunning to say the least. Without calentar, dragons have no defense against the Kala-Azar except to flee. That, my king, is what has happened to all of DoTaria.

  For centuries these mountains were mined for the crystals and eventually the mines were depleted. The Kala-Azar are drawn to dragons like flies to rotting meat. The more dragons in one place, the more slugs appear. When the calentar mines ran out, there were over one thousand dragons here. In less than a week, hundreds of them were slain. To survive, the remaining dragons scattered across the countryside, and the people of Laton scattered with them. Eventually the slugs disappeared or went into hibernation, nobody really knows where they came from or where they went. Occasionally they still surface, hunting anything that moves and killing any dragon that stays in one place too long. The presence of a few hundred dragons here has awakened the slugs once again, and soon they will return! This whole city will be crawling with the loathsome things!”

  Erik turned the crystal in his hands thoughtfully. “Dragons that breathe fire? I have a hard time believing this myth told to children. Yet Ammon is a truthful young man, and there was no denying the burns on his face and hands. There is no doubt something caused the people of Laton to leave, and leave quickly. Everywhere we look are signs of a people leaving in a hurry, yet no signs of a battle. To think a force of a thousand dragons are forced to flee from these Kala-Azar slugs. Are they that difficult to kill?” He placed the crystal down on the table, sat back and crossed his arms. “Where do we find this calentar if the mountains have been mined out?”

  The old woman stepped closer. “Ammon told me of a large cavern with crystals! If you find that deposit, you’ll be able to defend yourselves, at least for a little while!”

  Theo bent down and picked up the crystal. “It’s true. I’ve seen the cavern myself. It was filled with these. Tons of it. How much does each dragon need to produce this…fire?”

  Sasha rubbed her hands together gleefully. “Tons of it you say? Are you sure? Each dragon only needs a fistful, but they must have it everyday! It takes at least a week of feeding before they can produce the fire! You must show me this cavern at once! Before the slugs return your dragons must be ready!”

  Erik looked doubtfully at Theo, then at Ammon, and finally at Sasha. “Alright, I will send a few of my knights to go with you as soon as you’re ready. If this calentar works as you say, perhaps this may be our key to return home as well!”

  Theo followed Ammon out into the hallway. “Do you really believe it was Fulgid that caused the fireball?”

  Ammon shrugged and held up his burned hands. “I did not see it, but I don’t have any other explanation.”

  ***

  Sasha leaned heavily on El as they reached the entrance to the tunnel, and Ammon shifted the bundle of the empty sacks on his shoulder as she studied the entrance carefully. “I thought I knew of every mine on the mountain, but this is one I’ve not seen before!”

  The opening had been cleared to make room for the dragons during their escape, and once inside, Theo and Ammon lit the torches along the walls as they made their way deeper inside. When they finally reached the entrance to the cavern, the reflected light from their torches on the crystals lit the entire cavern up like the morning sky. Fulgid leapt about from rock to rock, the lights twinkling off his brilliant scales.

  Sasha stood in the middle of the cavern gaping in astonishment. “Tons of calentar! More than I ever dreamed of! Do you know what this means? Do you have any idea?”

  Theo shrugged his shoulders. “Does this mean these are the type of crystals you talked about?”

  Sasha held her hands high and cackled gleefully. “Calentar! Enough to last an army for hundreds of years! A thousand years or more! Don’t you understand?”

  Theo and Ammon looked at each other blankly. Mildly irritated, Sasha threw an empty sack at them. “It means the return of the dragons to Laton! We can take back the city and drive the Kala-Azar back to whatever pit they came from! We will not hide from the slugs anymore!”

  Ammon shook one of the sacks open as he began filling it with bits of crystals shards. “You mean the Laton dragons are still out there somewhere?”

  The old woman’s shrill voice echoed through the cavern. “Yes! The whole city is out there! Scattered across the land!”

  Theo paused after he placed a particularly large crystal into one of the sacks. “Sasha, just how many dragons out there would come back because of these crystals?”

  The old woman picked up a fist-sized crystal and held it up to the torchlight. “Not as many as once was. I’d guess about twelve hundred or so now, maybe a few more. They’ve continued to breed even though they’re scattered far and wide. The furthest is about a weeks flight from here.”

  She tossed the crystal to Ammon who jumped to catch it. Stepping over the pile of bags she stood in front of Ammon looking up at him curiously. “You and your golden dragon! Just as it was written!”

  Before Ammon could ask what that meant, a full bag of crystals suddenly struck him in the back of the leg and nearly knocked him to the ground. “Hey!” Rubbing his calf, he looked up as El snatched another bag and turned away to fill it. “What was that for?”

  Sasha looked quizzically at El, then at Ammon and grinned.

  ***

  Fulgid led the way back out of the tunnel carrying a couple small bags of calentar on his back. Ammon, Theo, and El each struggled under the weight of the bulging sacks they carried. Sasha had filled so many pockets in the rags she wore that she rattled with each step. As they headed down the steep slope to the city, Ammon walked beside her, offering his arm at the more treacherous spots while El steadied her on the other side. He kept a wary eye on the boy. For whatever reason, El seemed to disliked him and he wasn’t going to give the boy a chance to hit him from behind with another sack of calentar.

  He studied the boy as they walked. It was difficult to say what El looked like with the hood always drawn tightly over his head. Even his facial features were carefully hidden
from view. He was shorter than Ammon by nearly a head, yet moved with the grace of an experienced hunter. Perhaps the strangest thing Ammon noticed was that El never spoke or looked anyone in the eye. Suddenly it occurred to him that perhaps the boy was disfigured. Sasha’s comment about Ammon’s pretty face would certainly explain the boy’s attitude towards him! He suddenly felt pity and decided to ignore the resentment and be friendly, as Boris had been to him. In time El’s attitude would change.

  Theo struck up a conversation with Sasha and Ammon took the chance to walk a bit closer to El. Speaking quietly so only the boy could hear he asked. “What did she mean when she said, ‘as it was written’?”

  The hooded head turned slightly but said nothing and moved away to be closer to Sasha. Ammon looked down at Fulgid and shrugged. “I tried.”

  Fulgid suddenly bounded forward, cut in front of El and tripped him with his tail. Ammon stopped in mid-step watching helplessly as the boy stumbled down the steep hillside. The heavy sack of crystals swung wildly on his back as he desperately tried to slow his descent. With an undignified stop, he crashed into a small clump of saplings. Even from a distance, Ammon could feel El’s eyes glare at him from beneath the hood before he stomped off. Fulgid pranced back to Ammon’s side, the picture of innocence.